How to get into Dr. office job

Cienna2000 · Mar 30, 2008

Apply anyway. In your cover letter and in your resume talk up your critical thinking skills and your many years experience as a nurse. Google resumes designed for changing careers or job focus to help get yours set up to focus on your skills, especially any supervisory positions you have held.

I'm pre-nursing and work in medical records of a community clinic. We would *LOVE* to get a LPN with your experience. The LPNs we have had usually work with the MAs and tend to room patients, take vitals, do blood draws, notify patients of lab results, call patients to schedule them for follow up, and assist the providers as needed. Those are all things I am sure you are capable of doing with a little training on the offices procedures (which will be different no matter what office you go to). Other doctors offices may have different job duties, but that is what I know you could expect where I work.

Good luck!:nuke:

taxifolia · Mar 30, 2008

HI

to add to the above right on reply, consider how the skills you have now might translate, i.e. you might not do blood draws now, but you do IVs? go to an online used book source (Amazon) and get a phlebotomy text and study it, and maybe a MA text as that was about the only resource I could find on office practices, get a used one as 90% of it will be much too basic and useless to you. you just need to get familiar with the things you probably did not learn in nursing school, at least I didn't. like scheduling, insurance, general office practices a feel for how things are done in the office vs. the hospital. this might help you to present yourself as knowledgable and having the elements of "experienced" if not in the normal sense. and while some of this is "front office" vs. back office you should know all of it in a general way. where I work in a small office you need to be able to do both.

just some thoughts and good luck

sue

James Huffman · Mar 30, 2008

1. Take a map. Decide how far you'd be willing to drive for a job.

2. Draw a circle around your home for the number of miles you're willing to travel. So, if you're willing to drive 20 miles, you draw a circle 20 miles out from your home..

3. Get the names and addresses of every clinic and doctor's office within that circle.

4. Do a one page letter detailing your experience, your willingness to work hard, your ability to empathize with patients and work with a team. Include a web address (you can get one for less than $10 at places like GoDaddy). On your website, put your picture, an expanded resume, and a copy of your letter. (The website distinguishes you from almost everyone else, and indicates that you're creative, inventive, and willing to go a bit further. It also tells them that despite your lack of specific office experience, you're the type of nurse they want to hire). Of course, include your address, home and cell phone numbers, and an email address.

5. Get enough copies of that letter printed to send to every address in your radius. Have it professionally printed (a place like Pip) with a flattering, professional picture of yourself at the top. Send it out. I'm guessing you'll have multiple job offers (which means you get the pick of the best ones), and you'll be working at a place you like within a month.

nmoore67 · Mar 31, 2008

Having worked as a medical assistant in primary care for the past 15 yrs and now working as an RN in a hospital, I can tell you the settings are two different animals. There are medical assistant courses you can take at the local community colleges or business schools but they will cost you and take time. Truthfully, the only good things about the office setting are no weekends, holidays, or nights. If you like variety, this isn't the place to go. It is the same thing everyday and gets old quick. Plus you will make LESS money. Private physicians will not want to pay you what you are making now and if you need benefits, that could be an issue also as most physicians cannot afford to offer the type of insurance coverage that a big facility can. Or if they do, you will pay alot for it. Just some food for thought. :nurse:

pagandeva2000, LPN · Mar 31, 2008

Having worked as a medical assistant in primary care for the past 15 yrs and now working as an RN in a hospital, I can tell you the settings are two different animals. There are medical assistant courses you can take at the local community colleges or business schools but they will cost you and take time. Truthfully, the only good things about the office setting are no weekends, holidays, or nights. If you like variety, this isn't the place to go. It is the same thing everyday and gets old quick. Plus you will make LESS money. Private physicians will not want to pay you what you are making now and if you need benefits, that could be an issue also as most physicians cannot afford to offer the type of insurance coverage that a big facility can. Or if they do, you will pay alot for it. Just some food for thought.

To the OP:

Have you considered applying to hospital clinics? I am not sure of how LPNs are used in your areas, but many of them are using them in clinics with RN supervision. This way, you can kill two birds with one stone, you get the benefits and the weekends/holidays off and the money for the LPN is the same whether it is in patient or ambulatory care. I can tell you from my experience working in a hospital clinic that it is not always the boring, predictable thing that it would be in an office. Also, with your experience, you would be highly considered here in New York for a clinic setting.

I agree with nmoore67 that under normal circumstances, it is less money and can be boring for some people. Private doctors usually cannot afford to pay an LPN what she is worth, and darned sure will not want to pay for your health benefits, offer 401k for retirement or pensions. This is why they will hire Medical Assistants over licensed nurses. And, it is really not worth the time or money to take their course, because you have learned what they did and then some. On a side bar, many times, the medical assisting course is much more expensive than nursing courses and many of them have a hard time finding jobs but have a huge debt to consider.

ZootRN · Mar 31, 2008

1. Take a map. Decide how far you'd be willing to drive for a job.
2. Draw a circle around your home for the number of miles you're willing to travel. So, if you're willing to drive 20 miles, you draw a circle 20 miles out from your home..
3. Get the names and addresses of every clinic and doctor's office within that circle.
4. Do a one page letter detailing your experience, your willingness to work hard, your ability to empathize with patients and work with a team. Include a web address (you can get one for less than $10 at places like GoDaddy). On your website, put your picture, an expanded resume, and a copy of your letter. (The website distinguishes you from almost everyone else, and indicates that you're creative, inventive, and willing to go a bit further. It also tells them that despite your lack of specific office experience, you're the type of nurse they want to hire). Of course, include your address, home and cell phone numbers, and an email address.
5. Get enough copies of that letter printed to send to every address in your radius. Have it professionally printed (a place like Pip) with a flattering, professional picture of yourself at the top. Send it out. I'm guessing you'll have multiple job offers (which means you get the pick of the best ones), and you'll be working at a place you like within a month.

I couldn't help but complement on creativity and brightness of that post. What a great idea to create a web site and attach flattering professional picture of yourself. Bravo.